Bush: Maybe Iraq did destroy WMDs

A desperate Bush is starting to conclude that maybe, just maybe, Saddam told the truth about its WMD program.

"It's going to take time to find them," Bush said of Iraq's alleged chemical and biological weapons as well as a nuclear weapons program Washington insisted Saddam Hussein was pursuing.

"But we know he had them, and whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth. And one thing is for certain, Saddam Hussein no longer threatens America with weapons of mass destruction."

Except that Hussein never threatened the US with mass destruction, and if he had destroyed such weapons, as Bush himself suggests, then the entire invasion was predicated on nothing but lies.

But we already knew that.

We invaded Iraq SOLELY on the basis of its supposed WMD program. We damaged international institutions such as the UN and NATO. We wounded our relationships with several of our closest allies and Russia, spurring talk of global coalitions against US hegemony. We spent an $80 billion on the war and first 6 months of occupation, more to come later. We suffered over 600 dead and wounded. We killed untold thousands.

For a lie? Remember, the CIA insisted Iraq had no WMDs. But the neocons pushed on anyway, because they knew better.

So here's the deal (stolen from a coworker):

Bush has six months to find the WMDs that spurred this war. Six months to find the hundreds of tons of chemical weapons that posed an imminent threat to our nation and Iraq's neighbors.

If in six months no such weapons are found, then start impeachment proceedings.

This war has been too costly, in both treasure and human life. To have based the war on nothing more than rumor is gross incompetence. Our country deserves better.

Remember that this was never about "freedom". The presence of Eritria, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Ethopia in our "Coalition of the Willing" proves that. It was about WMDs.

If we don't find them, the costs were all for naught, and Bush should pay the price.

Posted April 24, 2003 12:53 PM | Comments (128)